A method for making artifical tobacco is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,432, wherein a continuous strand, having a thickness corresponding to that of tobacco filaments for cut tobacco, is introduced between squeeze rollers rotating at a substantially higher speed than rollers to the rear of the strand, so that the strand is forcibly pulled by the squeeze rollers and torn into sections. This method requires very small extrusion dies which are subject to substantial wear, while permitting only an uneconomically small throughput and requiring the employment of desanded plant material. Also, the dimensions of the produced tobacco filaments are subject to numerous variations, which is disadvantageous inasmuch as the filaments cannot be post-treated so as to alter their dimensions. It is also difficult to mix the finished filaments with other filaments, for instance those of natural tobacco.
The present invention provides a method whereby the artificial tobacco produced is obtained in a form in which it may be further processed industrially by the same processing techniques as are applied to the processing of natural tobacco leaves.